Navy and Temple are football teams headed in opposite directions

Ryquell Armstead of the Temple Owls runs the ball against Cannon Gibbs of the East Carolina Pirates in the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on Oct. 6, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Temple defeated East Carolina 49-6. (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

Two football teams seemingly headed in opposite directions will meet on Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Temple is surging, having won three of its last four games in convincing fashion. Navy, on the other hand, is skidding, having dropped two straight contests and coming off an embarrassing 35-7 blowout at the hands of service academy rival Air Force.

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Temple is coming off a 49-6 rout of East Carolina in a contest that was basically over by halftime. Quarterback Anthony Russo, making his fourth straight start, completed 21 of 25 passes for 254 yards and four touchdowns. The 6-foot-4, 228-pound redshirt sophomore tossed scoring strikes to four different receivers.

Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo meets with the media following the loss to Air Force.

Talented tailback Ryquell Armstead rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries for the Owls, who raced to a 35-7 halftime lead. Armstead limped off the field with 5:57 left in the third quarter and returned just briefly before calling it a day, snapping his streak of four consecutive contests of running for 100 yards or more.

Junior wide receiver and returner Isaiah Wright accounted for 192 all-purpose yards for Temple, which evened its record at 3-3 following an 0-2 start to the season. Wright was named American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week after amassing 129 yards on five punt returns. The 6-foot-2, 207-pound speedster brought back one punt 59 yards for a touchdown, giving the Owls a non-offensive touchdown for the sixth straight game.

Freddie Booth-Lloyd of the Temple Owls celebrates running the ball for a touchdown with Dan Archibong against the East Carolina Pirates at Lincoln Financial Field. (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

Temple’s 43-point margin of victory was its largest ever against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent. East Carolina had been playing well, knocking off in-state rival North Carolina and falling by just a touchdown to AAC East Division contender South Florida, which is unbeaten and ranked No. 23 in the latest Associated Press poll.

“It was an impressive win against a really good opponent,” Temple head coach Geoff Collins said. “We were hitting on all cylinders in every phase of the game.”

Temple started the season in shaky fashion, getting upset by Football Championship Subdivision foe Villanova (19-17) in the opener then falling to Buffalo (36-29) of the Mid-American Conference in Week 2.

Russo took over as the starting quarterback and led an impressive 35-14 road victory over Maryland that turned around the team’s fortunes. Temple manhandled Tulsa (31-17) in its conference opener before bowing to Boston College (45-35) of the Atlantic Coast Conference in a shootout.

Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo was asked during the American Athletic Conference weekly teleconference what has impressed him about Temple’s offense.

“Unfortunately, there’s too much that impresses me. I don’t know where to start. Who do you try to stop?” Niumatalolo said. “They are big, strong and physical up front and can run the football with a great back. The quarterback is throwing the ball well and making great decisions. After a tough loss you don’t want to put on the tape and watch them play. That’s a scary offense and they’re operating really well right now.”

Navy (2-3) needs to regroup after losing back-to-back road games with a bye week in between. Niumatalolo admitted after Saturday’s ugly loss to Air Force that he is “very concerned” because the Midshipmen are not playing a very good brand of football.

“We’ve got a lot to improve on as a team. We’re just not playing very well right now,” he said.

What makes being a member of a conference so difficult is that there is no rest following an emotional service academy. Navy jumps right back into the fray of American Athletic Conference play against a tough Temple team that won last year’s meeting between the schools, 34-26.

“To lose to Air Force is devastating for our program. We got our butts whipped both coaching and playing. It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially since it’s one of our rivalry games,” Niumatalolo said. “Unfortunately, we get back into league play against a very good Temple team that is playing well right now. A very talented team, a very physical team that has always given us trouble.”

Navy and Temple have been among the most successful programs in the American Athletic Conference over the past four seasons. Since 2015, the Owls (20-6) and Midshipmen (19-7) rank second and third in AAC regular season standings.

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In 2016, Navy and Temple played in the AAC Championship game with the Philadelphia school administering a 34-10 whipping in Annapolis.

“We have to find a way to move on quickly. We just got beat by a team thoroughly and Temple is probably better than Air Force, at least athletically and physically,” Niumatalolo said.

The Midshipmen are no doubt happy to return to the friendly confines of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium where they own an impressive 18-2 record over the past four seasons.

Navy managed only 129 rushing yards against Air Force and dropped out of the national lead in that category as a result. Georgia Tech now leads the Football Bowl Subdivision with 373 rushing yards per game while Navy is second with 310, just ahead of archrival Army (308).

Speaking during the AAC teleconference, Collins did not want to hear anything about Navy struggling offensively.

“If they’re not leading the country in rushing offense they’re definitely right up there; They’ve got some really good athletes and some tremendous schemes. Our guys understand the challenge,” Collins said.

Starting quarterback Malcolm Perry got bottled up by Air Force, but still ranks 11th in FBS with 116.8 rushing yards per game. Putting aside the Air Force loss, Collins has been impressed by what he’s seen out of Navy’s triple-option attack overall this season.

“The quarterback is a dynamic player and the offensive line comes off the ball really hard. They seem to have more size than in the past up front,” said Collins, who served as defensive coordinator at Florida and Mississippi State before being hired at Temple. “They make you defend every single part of the field and make you be disciplined in your assignments and with your eyes.”